Saying “one, two, three” to one’s wife

Question

Question: Zayd, over some quarrel with his wife Hind, beat her and afterwards said: “ایک دو تین” (“one, two, three”). A little while later Zayd began telling his mother: “Take her to her parents’ home.” His mother said: “All right, I will take her tomorrow.” Three days after this incident Hind’s father, on some errand, came to Hind’s village and there learned of this from a certain man. Hind’s father called Zayd aside in private, spoke with him and asked: “Did you give Hind talaq?

Answer

The words “one, two, three” are not originally (asalatan) coined for talaq but for counting: by them one may mean the count of talaqs as well as the count of things other than talaq. Usually the thing counted is also mentioned, and sometimes, given the contextual indication (qarina)

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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